ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan
2011-01-D-080
For Immediate Release
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KABUL, Afghanistan (Jan. 7) – The members of the Engineer Transition Team at Forward Operating Base Thunder in Paktiya province are coordinating more than $70 million worth of construction projects at the forward operating base.

Buildings and other construction projects are going up at the forward operating base as the Afghan National Army’s 203rd Thunder Corps expands and increases it capabilities. Their projects include a basic training facility, new helipads and an observation post.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dale Waltman, Engineer Transition Team officer in charge, takes pride in the work his team is doing, but he does not see success in buildings alone. He measures success in terms of the relationships he has built.

“The relationships we have been able to establish with our [Afghan National Army] partners and contractors are our greatest accomplishment,” said Waltman.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mathew Reilly, Engineer Transition Team noncommissioned officer in charge, is quick to point out that although he is an advisor, he realizes local solutions are necessary for local problems and that American construction standards do not always work in the stark Afghan environment.

One of their projects, an observation post, was deliberately built with traditional Afghan materials and construction methods.

“This observation post will still be here in 200 years,” Reilly said.